This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Sport utility and other vehicles accommodating multiple rows of seats are becoming increasingly popular. While providing a vehicle with multiple rows of seating maximizes the number of occupants that can be transported by the vehicle, such additional rows of seating provide challenges to vehicle manufacturers, as access to rear seat assemblies such as second or third-row seat assemblies is often obstructed by front or other intermediate seat assemblies.
Conventional seat assemblies typically include at least one adjustment mechanism that allows a user to pivot, slide, or otherwise move the seat assembly in an effort to permit access to rear seat assemblies and/or to a cargo are of a vehicle. For example, a second-row seat assembly may permit a user to rotate a seatback relative to a seat bottom and into a fold-flat condition. Once in the fold-flat condition, the second-row seat assembly may pivot forward or “dump” along with the seat bottom, thereby providing access to a third-row seat. In another configuration, an easy-entry mechanism may allow a seatback to rotate forward relative to a seat bottom to permit access to a third-row seat without moving the seat bottom.
A seat assembly may additionally include a recliner mechanism that provides for angular adjustment of the seatback relative to the seat bottom. Such recliner mechanisms permit a user to position a seatback relative to a seat bottom when the seat assembly is in an upright and usable position to allow the user to position the seatback in a comfortable position.
While conventional seat assemblies may include an easy-entry mechanism that permits the seat assembly to be moved quickly into a forward or easy-entry position to permit access to a rear seat or cargo area of a vehicle, for example, such easy-entry mechanisms do not restrict or otherwise prevent a user from actuating a recliner mechanism of the seat assembly when the seat assembly is in such a forward or easy-entry position. Permitting a user to actuate a recliner mechanism when the seat assembly is in an easy-entry position may cause damage to the recliner mechanism and/or surrounding components when the seatback is subsequently returned to an upright and useable position if adjustment of the recliner mechanism relative to the seatback was performed when the seatback was in the easy-entry position. Such a condition may be further exacerbated when the recliner mechanism is a powered, constant-engagement recliner mechanism, as a switch that controls such a powered recliner mechanism may be easily and inadvertently depressed when the seatback is in the easy-entry position.